Mission Statement

HELP FOR TODAY. HOPE FOR TOMORROW The Huntington's Disease Society of America is a National, voluntary health organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with Huntington's disease and their families. To promote and support research and me... Read more

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Mission Statement

The Huntington's Disease Society of America is a National, voluntary health organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with Huntington's disease and their families.

To promote and support research and medical efforts to eradicate Huntington's Disease.

To assist people and families affected by Huntington's Disease to cope with the problems presented by the disease.

To educate the public and health professionals about Huntington's disease.

Description

We are a national non-profit voluntary health agency dedicated to finding a cure for Huntington's disease (HD). We provide vital support, information and educational services to improve the lives of those affected by HD. We promote and support research to find a cure for HD. We offer resources and guidance for HD families through our national network of volunteer-based chapters and affiliates as well as through our HDSA Centers of Excellence for Family Services that provide specialized HD healthcare across the United States.

Huntington's disease is a fatal, degenerative brain disorder that currently has no cure and only one treatment for a symptom of HD. As HD slowly diminishes one's ability to think, eat, talk, walk and reason, they become entirely dependent upon others for their care. Eventually the weakened individual succumbs to death from pneumonia, heart failure or other complications.

HD is hereditary and profoundly affects the lives of entire families for generations -- emotionally, socially and economically.

Symptoms typically appear in the prime of one's life between 30 to 50 years old, though onset may occur as early as the age of two. Once symptoms appear, the average life expectancy is just 10-20 years. Children who develop juvenile HD rarely live to adulthood.

It is estimated that by 2015, 1 in 5 Americans will be affected by a neurodegenerative disease.

In 1993, the HD gene was isolated and a test to accurately determine whether a person carries the HD gene was developed. Because of the uniqueness of the HD gene, research into a cure for HD is vital to advancing breakthroughs in treatments and cures for ALL neurodegenerative diseases such as MS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Please help: volunteer at an HDSA fundraising event, join a volunteer event committee, organize an HDSA fundraising event in your community, donate, tell three people you know about HD and what they can do to help.